Local designers should have oufitted our Olympics team

We all saw it. The red and black. On what is officially the largest runway on the planet. Watched by billions. That Rio 2016 opening ceremony revealed our underbelly. We should be upset. It disclosed our dirty national secrets, things we know and gossiped about on social media, written pieces on in blogs and mainstream media and certainly should have discussed a little more extensively.

The uniform that Team Kenya wore for the Olympics opening ceremony in Rio, Brazil last week were an embarrassment because they illustrated a lack of Kenyanness, national pride and indicated no one had enough faith in dressing the athletes so no designer was brought on board.

It shows the black holes sucking the creative spirit and the absence of a relationship between the powers that be and the local fashion, textile and apparel industry. Yes. Kenyans need to be very upset because teams from other countries walked past with athletes who were nurtured, prepped, celebrated, feted and, at the very least, dressed.

Great Britain’s team wore Stella McCartney for Adidas under the care of UK’s Olympic committee. McCartney tested designs with several athletes resulting in a new kind of innovative fabric that is 10 per cent more efficient than her previous 2012 Olympic collection.

Canada’s DSquared2 went minimalist, creatively applied the flag colours and blazers made from track suit fabric.  For identification they opted for a symbol of Canada’s greatest export - the maple leaf. Their outfits are made by Hudson’s Bay, a chain of 90 homegrown department stores that now sells the Rio collection. Theirs made it into a number of the worst dressed lists. Sweden has H&M giant to thank for their uniforms, which will be stocked in all H&M outlets worldwide.  South Korea made waves with their preppy, Zika-repellent uniforms. They will wear the uniform made from specially treated fabric throughout their stay in Rio.

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France called in legend Lacoste with his unmistakable crocodile decorated pieces. Ralph Lauren is quintessentially an American brand. He dressed Team USA in 2012. Italy’s team was dressed in all black by Giorgio Armani.

Shoe designer Christian Louboutin is one of the most intriguing surprises. He designed the Cuban team’s uniforms. Not any single part of it. Which, if you saw the Cubans, is as big a pity as the disappointment that was our national uniforms.

Uniforms symbolise unity. How they look is only part of the equation. But in the era of social media where feedback is immediate, wounded or thrilled national pride is quick.

Neither does it hide. It is scathing, shame pouring out of posts. The Olympics is a representation of a nation. We root for our own and want reason to be proud from the very beginning.

What Kenya wore, ideally, is something designed and approved by the government and Olympic committee. They call out for tenders. Several offers get vetted. Someone wins. The work begins six to 12 months to the Olympics.

Unveiling it prior to the Olympics, a national affair, likely one where the Kenyan Olympic team is also unveiled, probably at a press conference with much pomp, or perhaps not, appeases. Obviously there is a chasm between fashion and leadership, as much as there is one between fashion and sports.  There is a state of participation athletes need to employ with media, an interaction that gives rise to their visibility therefore making it far easier to work with fashion designers.

Such are the opportunities making it possible to showcase creativity and acquire mutual exposure. Add to this how international designers enjoy state support, compound it with the athleisure wear trend as a rolling stone and what the athletes wear either inspires consumers or designers to sublimate it into a wearable diffusion line.

Sales that may make money during the Olympic season or if done brilliantly, possibly till Christmas. Kenya, unfortunately, was not a blip on anyone’s radar save Kenyans, yet our long-distance runners are so epic they are subjects of study.

We stepped onto one of the biggest platform  totally unprepared. Yet we could have charged a consortium of designers under Team Kenya, commissioned EPZ to stitch some pieces for sale online and in select outlets in support of our